1953 –> 2007, environmental progress?

Rachel Carson wrote a letter to the editor that was published by the Washington Post in 1953 that can eerily be compared to environmental sentiments today… 1953!!! The best excerpt:

“It is one of the ironies of our times that, while concentrating on the defense of our country, against enemies from without, we should be so heedless of those who would destroy it from within.”

That phrase is equally, if not more, relevant in our political climate today. May 27, 2007 is Rachel Carson Day. She is an environmental icon, and most well known for her publication of Silent Spring in 1962. The mass media reacted in a variety of ways to her landmark book about consumption and toxins in our environment. Some media outlets hailed Carson as a heroine, others as a villian of modern progress, chemical companies were outraged.  

 

Einstein on Bees

Albert Einstein once said: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!” He wasn’t an entomologist, but entomologists around today agree that the sudden and mysterious disappearance of bees from their hives poses serious problems!

Bits and pieces of information about farmers’ concerns for bee disappearance (or colony collapse disorder) in 24 states around the U.S. have bubbled up to the surface, over the last year and a half, but hardly any large-scale media attention has been drawn to this potentially serious problem. Recently bees have gone missing from hives around Europe as well. The East Coast of the U.S. is reporting a 70% loss in commercial bee hive habitation, the West Coast 60%; these figures are staggering.

An article in The Independent discusses a theory that cell phone radiation seriously interferes with bees’ ability to navigate through the air. Regardless of the cause, the implications of this phenomenon are enormous – and it is alarming how rapidly this is occurring. From a NYT article on 2/27/07: “…one study says that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in US, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts.”

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